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Karlsson’s shootout goal lifts Senators past Flyers, 3-2

Nov 15, 2016 | 8:45 PM

PHILADELPHIA — Erik Karlsson showed again how valuable he is in a shootout.

Karlsson scored the only goal of the tiebreaker to lift the Ottawa Senators to a 3-2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night.

After coming in with four goals in 12 shootout attempts, Karlsson snapped a wrist shot past Flyers goalie Steve Mason and inside the right post in the fifth round.

“I’ll be honest, when we got to the third shooter I was gonna put him in,” Ottawa coach Guy Boucher said. “But (Ryan) Dzingel is great in shootouts and (Mark) Stone had a great game. So after that, I said, ‘That’s enough, let’s send Erik.’”

Mark Stone and Kyle Turris scored in regulation for the Senators, who have won three of their last four while totalling seven regulation goals in that span. Craig Anderson had 33 saves through overtime and stopped all five Flyers attempts in the tiebreaker.

Ottawa is now 10-5-1 even though it has scored two or fewer goals in regulation in 10 straight games.

“You know, a good coaching staff, the right scouting and making sure we know what we are all doing so there is no confusion,” Anderson said. “For the most part, we have had very limited opportunities where we have made mental errors. We seem to be on the same page.”

Nick Cousins and Michael Raffl had Philadelphia’s goals, and Steve Mason finished with 24 saves. The Flyers went 0 for 4 on the power play and have lost four of five.

“It’s very disappointing but I think we battled hard,” Raffl said. “Even in overtime had a couple of chances and the shootout can go anyway. So that’s a good point. But obviously, we’re very disappointed with the loss.”

Turris tied the score on a wraparound with 1:59 left in regulation as he swung around the right side of the net and beat Mason to the other side, stuffing the puck into the unguarded left side for his team-leading eight of the season.

“I wanted to try and fake like I was going to bring it to the middle and get everyone to bite on it, so it would open up space for me on the far side,” said Turris, who had 13 goals in 57 games last season. “It opened up a lot of space.”

In the closing minute of overtime, Karlsson and Turris passed the puck back and forth until both ran out of room on Mason.

“Apparently, we didn’t get a shot,” Boucher said. “It’s yours, it’s mine, it’s yours, it’s mine. We’ve had a lot of that.”

The Flyers grabbed the early lead on Cousins’ second goal of the season 5:14 in. An ill-advised neutral-zone pass by Ottawa’s Derick Brassard landed onto the stick of Cousins, who used a burst of speed to break free on Anderson. Cousins beat the goaltender past his stick side for his first goal since Oct 27 and 1-0 lead.

The Senators tied it 7:09 into the second when they capitalized on a Flyers defensive zone turnover. Philadelphia’s Jakub Voracek saw his pass intercepted and a poke check by Flyers defenceman Mark Streit ended up on the stick of Ottawa defenceman Mark Methot, who slid a centring pass to Stone for his third of the season and second in three games.

The Flyers regained their lead a little more than six minutes later on Raffl’s second goal of the season. Pierre-Edouard Bellemare beat Ottawa’s Jean-Gabriel Pageau on a faceoff and Raffl converted Dale Weiss’ rebound for his first goal since Oct. 15.

NOTES: The Senators have not allowed a power-play goal in their last 11 games, killing off all 27 penalties in that stretch. … With 11 games in 20 days, Flyers coach Dave Hakstol said before the game he would continue making day-of-game morning skates optional for his players. … Senators LW Clark MacArthur, sidelined since Sept. 25 with a concussion, skated with a handful of teammates on Tuesday but remains on long-term injury reserve. … Ottawa D Mark Methot was back in the lineup after leaving Sunday’s game in the first period with a lower-body injury.

UP NEXT

Flyers: Host Winnipeg on Thursday night.

Senators: Host Nashville on Thursday night.

The Associated Press